Govt to bear healthcare expenses of BPL families

Noting that costly healthcare facilities were wiping away the finances of the poor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that government will bear healthcare expenses of up to Rs 1 lakh annually of BPL families.PTI | August 15, 2016, 18:07 IST

New Delhi, Aug 15: Noting that costly healthcare facilities were wiping away the finances of the poor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that government will bear healthcare expenses of up to Rs 1 lakh annually of BPL families.

Announcing this from the ramparts of the Red Fort during his Independence Day speech, Modi said the entire economy of a poor household gets hit when somebody falls ill and this scheme will ensure that such families are not deprived of healthcare benefits.

"The economy of a poor household is affected if somebody falls ill. The wedding of their daughters gets stalled, the education of children gets stalled and sometimes even food is not available. Healthcare is getting costlier.

"That is why the government has come out with a significant scheme for people living Below Poverty Line (BPL). In the future, if such families have to take medical facilities, the government will bear expenditure upto Rs 1 lakh for a year, so that my poor brothers are not deprived of healthcare facilities and their dreams are not shattered," Modi said.

Asserting that the main mantra behind governance is sensitivity, Modi said his government has been able to provide online registration and appointment of doctors at major government hospitals while the medical records of patients are also now available online.

"There was a time that if somebody had to visit a big hospital, one had to wait for many days. People used to come to AIIMS and spend 2-3 days before the decision to examine the patient was taken.

"We have been able to change this system. Online registration and online appointments with doctors are available. All his (patient's) medical record is available online.

"In the health sector, we want to develop this as a country-wide culture. We have started this system in more than 40 big government hospitals across the country. But the main mantra behind this is that governance should be sensitive" to the needs of the people, Modi said.